Book Recommendations

The Oz Principle defines personal accountability and how one can contribute to the success of an organization through their Steps to Accountability Model: See it; Own It; Solve It; Do It.

This is the first book of three and focuses discussion around the power of personal accountability. This book sets the foundation for the next book in the series, Change the Culture, Change the Game, which addresses how personal and organizational accountability can impact your organizational culture and ultimately help you effectively achieve your goals. The final book in the series is How did that happen? Holding People Accountable for the Results the Positive Principled Way.

While the book was written for the corporate sector, the concepts are easily adaptable for Higher Education and provide the opportunity for engaging discussions with your team.

Holding People Accountable for Results the Positive, Principled Way

This book is the third and final book in the accountability series by Connors and Smith. “peels back the onion on achieving sustained accountability." -Jeff Brundage, senior vice president of human resources, American Airlines. In this book, the authors base their tools to increasing accountability on three basic axioms: “the accountability assumption,” “the accountability fallacy,” and “the accountability truth.”

Higher education is often hesitant to have discussions about accountability, However, the three books, beginning with the The Oz Principle followed by Change the Culture, Change the Game and now How Did it Happen, lead us to examine our organizational culture and help provide a framework for discussion, for example on topics like increasing graduation rates, alumni participation, and efficiency in student services.

By Quint Studer

“Being a great leader means getting the fundamentals right. It also means consistently doing the “little things” that make a positive difference in the lives of employees, customers, and other stakeholders. This is a practical, easy-to-use book filled with gentle reminders of what we should be doing every day—especially when work is at its most intense. The Handbook is packed with proven best practices, tools, tips, and tactics for engaging employees, revitalizing cultures, delighting customers, and building high-performance companies. Short, succinct, and accessible, each chapter is “stand-alone,” offering helpful advice for meeting common business challenges. Plus, the strategies, approaches, and tactics are designed to be put into action immediately.”
 
This book is a great tool for developing new leaders in your department. The chapters are short and direct, perfect for any team who wants to develop and grow, but is short on time and resources. We recommend reading one chapter at a time, discussing how the information is relevant to your department, and implementing small immediate actions to bring about improvement. 

Recommended by:
Susan Nichols, Ph.D, BCBA-D
Interim Executive Director
UNT Kristin Farmer Autism Center    

Tools for talking when stakes are high

Difficult conversations occur in our professional lives as well as our personal lives. How we communicate during those conversations is critical to getting the message across as well as being heard. This book provides tools to more effectively communicate during difficult conversations.

Amazon:

Crucial Conversations gives you the tools you need to step up to life's most difficult and important conversations, say what's on your mind, and achieve the positive resolutions you want. You'll learn how to:

• Prepare for high-impact situations with a six-minute mastery technique
• Make it safe to talk about almost anything
• Be persuasive, not abrasive
• Keep listening when others blow up or clam up
• Turn crucial conversations into the action and results you want

By Bill Treasurer
 
“‘I got to open doors for people!’ These seven simple words, spoken by author Bill Treasurer's five-year-old son, cut straight to what matters most about leadership: True leaders open doors for people”.
 
This book is a game changer. I have used it in leadership development programs and within my own leadership journey. Its simplistic approach to leadership focuses on what really matters. He dives head first into the concept that leaders perceive problems as opportunities and empower those they lead by finding and opening doors to those opportunities. Throughout the text, Treasurer uses stories and examples from his research and career to drive critical leadership points home.
 
It is also a very easy read. Short, to the point, and full of reflective activities to help me internalize the learning. Anyone, at any point on their leadership journey, will benefit from this book. 
 
As an added bonus, 100% of the royalties from the sales of his book are donated to organizations that open doors for people with special needs. https://leadersopendoors.com/ 
 
Recommended by: 
Amanda Fisher, M.S., CTP
Senior Learning & Development Specialist
Organizational Development & Engagement (ODE)
UNT System HR

ODE recommends the #1 New York Times and #1 Businessweek bestseller, How Full is Your Bucket.  The book by authors Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton is produced from Gallup and focuses on positive psychology. The metaphor for filling someone’s bucket is used to illustrate how we can “fill your bucket” by making you more positive or “dipping from your bucket” by leaving you more negative than before.

The book shows you how to increase positive moments in your personal or professional life. Employees and Supervisors can both benefit from this book. Employees can reflect on how they can bring positivity to their team or department by “filling other’s buckets.” Supervisors can increase engagement through “filling the buckets” of their employees.  Supervisors can benefit from this book by learning how to focus more on encouraging and motivating their employees.  Reading the book as a team can create awareness of bringing positivity and motivation to workplace.

By John Newstrom & Edward Scannell

While ODE is always available to facilitate teambuilding for any department, there are times when you might want to do it in house. The Big Book of Team Building Games by John Newstrom and Edward Scannell is sure to inspire you to motivate your team through team-building games. The games are organized by a theme for each chapter. It is divided into 12 chapters with these themes (pack with activities to support the theme):

•    Ice Breakers: Getting to Know Each Other Better
•    Who Are We? Creating Team Identity
•    What can Teamwork achieve? Demonstrating Its Value
•    Who Can We Trust? Building Mutual Support
•    How Should We Proceed? Setting Team Goals and Norms
•    How Are We Doing? Improving Teamwork
•    How Can We Stretch Our Minds? Problem-Solving and Creativity Games
•    Can We Get Along Better? Learning to Communicate and Cooperate
•    Can We Work Together? Energizing Team Members
•    What Lies Ahead? Coping with Change
•    How Can We Have More Fun? Talking Time  to Play
•    How Can We Build Self-Esteem? Affirming Ourselves Through Games

This book can be a great source to build team spirit, communication, and trust by choosing one of 70 activities.  If you enjoy this title, you might enjoy another book from the series such as The Big Book of Team Motivating Games, The Big Book of Virtual Team Building Games, and The Big Book of Leadership Games. 

Help People Do Better What They Do Best
 
By Bob Nelson, PhD
  
Engagement is more than just a survey that we take once a year at UNT World. Engaging employees is an action or process that is intentional. Bob Nelson, author of best-seller 1501 Ways to Reward Employees, has now written 1,001 Ways to Engage Employees: Help People Do Better What They Do Best. 

1,001 Ways to Engage Employees:
•    Categorizes specific research-based factors proven to impact employee engagement.
•    Cites hundreds of examples of what other companies are doing to enhance employee engagement—ideas you can use right now.
•    Offers practical insights and advice from hundreds of clients Dr. Bob has worked with.
•    Highlights the key research on employee engagement you need to know and use.

This book can be utilized to generate ideas around supporting engagement on teams. This book supplements the work ODE has done around the Gallup Engagement survey and provides additional insights as we strive to be a “Best Place to Work